[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 155 (Friday, November 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2212-E2213]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE RESTRUCTURING AND REFORM ACT OF 1997

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. DIANA DeGETTE

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 5, 1997

  Ms. DeGETTE. Mr. Speaker, due to a technical error I was omitted as a 
cosponsor of H.R. 2676, the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and 
Reform Act of 1997, but wanted the fact that I was an early supporter 
of this legislation known as a matter of record.
  I am a strong supporter of the IRS restructuring and reform bill. I 
think the time has come to significantly restructure the Internal 
Revenue Service [IRS]. Recently, incidents of abuse within the IRS have 
been spotlighted at congressional hearings proving what many of us have 
suspected all along: that certain divisions within the IRS believe that 
a taxpayer is guilty until proven innocent.
  This bill is really quite historic. It will provide a major overhaul 
of the IRS, and give citizens who become involved in disputes with the 
IRS 28 new protections designed to enhance taxpayer rights. One of the 
most important things this bill will do is to strengthen the rights of 
taxpayers by placing the burden of proof in certain disputed cases, on 
the IRS, rather than on the taxpayer.
  I am such a strong supporter of this legislation because, even in the 
relatively short time

[[Page E2213]]

I have been in office, I have already encountered dozens of 
constituents who are involved in disputes with the IRS. In a 
surprisingly large number of these cases, my constituents ended up 
seeking my assistance because they had cooperated fully with the IRS, 
but were getting nowhere. In fact, oftentimes their efforts to settle 
the problem were being stymied by the very agency with whom they were 
trying to comply.
  I have one constituent by the name of Craig Dietz, a public school 
teacher in Denver, whose story is indicative of the kind of problems so 
many of us have had with the Internal Revenue Service. Earlier this 
year, Craig received a letter from the IRS stating that he owed over 
$500 from income he received as a nonemployee of the Jewish Center in 
Columbus, OH. Not only has Craig never worked for the Jewish Center in 
Columbus, he has never even been to Ohio.
  When he notified the IRS of their mistake, they responded with a very 
long and technical letter telling him it was his responsibility to 
contact the Jewish Center in Ohio, which he consequently did and 
received confirmation that there was no record of his employment. After 
receiving this information, the IRS still continued to pursue the case, 
and it was at this point that Craig contacted my office. Shortly after 
my office got involved, the IRS closed the case.
  Throughout this entire ordeal, Craig was not able to speak to an 
actual person at the IRS in order to state his case in person because 
his repeated calls were never returned. It took 6 months of hassle and 
aggravation, and might have taken much longer without intervention, to 
settle what was a relatively simple mistake on the part of the IRS. 
This is just one example of the stories I have heard of honorable 
citizens who simply want to rectify a bad situation and move on.
  We need to make sure that honest taxpayers are not unduly persecuted. 
This bill will provide some relief to a very serious problem and open 
the doors to a new era of taxpayer rights.

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